All That I'm Living For
by resident vampire
Summary: When Nudge, Iggy, the Gasman, and Angel are captured, Max and Fang will go to the ends of the earth to find them. But what will happen along the way? T to be safe.
1. Prologue

I looked up at Fang. He and I had shared a special bond for some years now. Ever since we had first met, all those years ago at the school. And, as a product of all those years together, we could understand what the other was feeling, thinking, etc. 

And right now was no exception. "We will go find them, Max." Fang wrapped his arms around me as I cried on his shoulder. "We'll find them. Don't worry," he shushed me. 

I didn't know what to do. Fang and I were both pretty beat up, and were moving stiffly with every movement. The flyboys had done a number on us. 

I nodded into Fang's shoulder. "I know. But is it so wrong of me to want them back right now?" 

"Of course not," he said. "But we need to rest before we rescue the flock." 


	2. All That I'm Living For

4

Random author's note:

I am so sorry that it took me so long to update. I meant to update almost right away, but I got sick and super busy, and then promptly forgot about it. But it's here! Please forgive me…

Anyways…I got a few comments that the first chapter was too short and that I needed to put in more details. That was the prologue, people. It's just to draw you in, kind of get you interested. Hopefully I succeeded.

Read on!

RV

All that I'm living for

All that I'm dying for

I ran wildly through the underbrush, trying hard to find a place to lift off. This was a lot like that dream that I had had months ago, but this time it was real. Only, this time, it was flyboys chasing me. For some reason, they weren't flying. They were marching. Marching quickly, but still.

I was out of breath, and knew that I would either have to just lift off and try to avoid a tree, or stop. I chose option number one.

I unfurled my wings, and jumped into the air. Desperate as I was, I couldn't stop the giddy feeling that rose in my chest as I lifted off the earth. But I had more important things to consider now.

The flyboys behind me pulled out guns. It was amazing just how different these machines were from the Erasers. The Erasers would all be yelling and stomping around, possibly unfurling their own clumsy wings and taking off after me. The flyboys didn't do any of that. They just pulled out their own wings, and took to the air behind me. They started shooting at me as I zoomed away from there at supersonic speed, yelling behind me, "Eat my slipstream!"

The flyboys fell far behind me. Now to find the flock. I had left them in a cave near the Nebraska-Kansas border. We were traveling west from having met up in North Carolina 10 days ago. We had gone to my mom's house, then headed East to New York (Nudge and Angel wanted to go, no idea why), and now we were headed back to the open, arid desert. I couldn't wait until we found a place where we could just hide and be safe. I was tired of running. Fang's logic of finding a house was beginning to wear off on me.

I flew hard and fast, and came up on the cave where the rest of the flock was. I never should have gone to get food alone, but it just worked out that way. Oops. It's not like I got caught.

I saw the flock's faces peering out of the cave at me from about 2,000 feet away. A feeling of overwhelming joy bubbled up in my chest as I coasted up to them. This is all that I lived for, being able to be with my flock. And not my mini-flock, but all of us. I slowed my wing beats and leaned back, coming to a slightly dusty stop beside my family. Fang reached me first. He gave me time to pull in my wings, hot from flying, then wrapped his hard, ropy arms around me. Yes, Fang. Hugging. He had changed a bit since we met back up. He wasn't really all that more emotional, just more…confidant when it came to showing affection. Apparently, he had missed us just as much as we had missed him.

I wrapped my arms around him. "How was your flight?" he asked.

"I was attacked by flyboys," I said as I disentangled myself, and reached for Angel.

"You what?!" Nudge asked loudly. Which is pretty normal for her. "Oh, my gosh! Are you okay? I mean, I would have been so scared if that happened. Were you scared? How many did you take out? Mmmph!" Iggy had put his hand over Nudge's mouth, stopping the word spew.

"Thanks, Ig." I said. "Yes, I'm fine, Nudge. I managed to get out of there pretty quick. It was weird, though. They seemed like they were trying to capture me, rather than kill me." I shrugged.

Fang walked back over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "You weren't followed, were you?

"I don't think so," I said uncertainly. I shrugged again. "On the downside, I didn't get any food. They attacked as soon as I landed."

"Well maybe if you'd stop landing in their recon camps, they might stop attacking you," Gazzy said mischievously.

I smacked him lightly upside the head, then pulled him into a hug. "Yeah, maybe."

Nudge peeled Iggy's hand off her face. "I'm hungry. I mean, I know that you just got attacked and all that, but I'm still hungry."

"I know that, Nudge. We're all hungry," I looked to Fang. "Maybe we should go get some food or something. We're going to have to hunt, though. The nearest town is crawling with flyboys."

He nodded, and Gazzy said, "Ooooh! You're on a date! Haha!" I made to smack him upside the head again, but he moved out of the way too quickly. I made do with rolling my eyes at Fang, and he grinned.

"I think it's great that you two are together, Max," Angel piped up. She hugged me hard around the waist as I turned beet red.

"We're not…Oh, for Pete's sake." I growled, exasperated. There _was _no Fang and me. I. Whatever. We were just really good friends. Yeah, who was I kidding? I had meant what I said when I was under the scalpel, getting my chip removed. I did love him; I just wasn't ready to admit it yet.

But it didn't matter, because I was with my flock. Which was all that I was living for.

Fang and I left about 5 minutes later, after several more date jokes, wishes of good fortune (Nudge, who else) and many 'be carefuls.' At that one, Fang smirked and said, "Don't worry; I'll take care of her." I smacked him, and he laughed.

We headed north, towards another town that we had spotted. It was about a half-hour away, as the avian-human hybrid flies, anyways. We were planning on hunting, but Angel had remembered the town at the last moment. She had heard someone on the ground thinking about it, and had prodded the person to remember the way there so that we could get directions. She was getting more powerful, which was scary, but helpful.

I looked over at Fang as he flew, silently admiring the way his wings moved when he was flying. He was streamlined, just like a hawk, and it was fun to watch him. Feeling my eyes on him, he turned. His eyes glinted as he contemplated some sort of trickery.

Then he swooped over to me, and purposefully tangled his wings in mine. The flock did it to each other all the time. Most of the time, I would have swooped away and down, then returned the favor. But, this time I folded my wings and dropped like a stone. My descent sent a smile onto my face and my hair streaming upward. Fang dived after me, and a laugh escaped me as I fell even farther. It was a totally uncontrolled fall, and fun like you wouldn't believe. What happened next though, surprised me to no end.

My wings were tucked in, and my arms out. Fang came up above me then basically landed on top of me, pinning my arms to my sides and wrapping his arms around me. His wings supported us both, mine pinned between us. "Fang! What are you doing?!" I screeched.

He laughed in my ear. "What do you think?" He flapped hard, and we started to rise again. My heart was thumping hard in my chest, but it wasn't from the adrenaline. Fang's arms were tight and comforting in my ear as he laughed again, low and seductively. Yes, boys and girls, I did say seductively. My heart thumped none-too-quietly now, and he must have felt that, considering where his hands where. And as we swooped through the sky, me on the bottom, and he on top, I was suddenly reminded of mating birds. Mating?! Oh, no. I wasn't ready for this. I…I…No! I started to struggle violently in his arms, but they only got tighter.

"Fang! Let me go!"

"Why?" He asked simply. His arms, now more restraining than holding, shifted slightly, holding me on my stomach and chest. We began to descend again, and I could tell that he was headed for a small copse of trees.

"Maybe because I _said _to!" I would have glared at him, but there was no point, seeing as how I wasn't even facing him. He let me go, about 25 feet above the ground. I was tempted to fly off again, but he gave me a look that basically said, if you fly, I will catch you, supersonic speed or not. I decided I might as well go along with it. My heart was still unsteady from the feel of his body, pressed against every inch of me.

I landed slightly clumsily, skidding and throwing dirt and rocks everywhere. I walked over to Fang, who was leaning against a tree, watching me. "Why are we here?" I asked suspiciously.

"We're here because I need to talk to you. About us." He replied.

"Us?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips. I cocked an eyebrow, basically telling him with my eyes that he'd better make this good, or there was gonna be hell to pay.

"Why do you act so surprised?" he asked. "We've kissed, and I _know_ that you enjoyed it, so don't bother lying to me. I know you like me, and you know that I like you. A lot." He looked down at the ground for just a moment before looking up at me from underneath his lashes. He looked even hotter than usual when he did that, and I had to stop myself from gulping.

"I, uh…that is…" I stuttered. Darn it! I hated it when I stuttered. Grrr! I clamped my mouth shut, took a deep breath, and tried again. "We need to get back to the flock, Fang. And we need food." My stomach chose just that moment to growl, adding nicely to the moment. It wasn't that I didn't like Fang; I did. I just didn't know if I could handle that right now. Not exactly at the top of my list of priorities, you know?

Fang nodded and looked away, but not before I could see the pain in his eyes. I hated myself for doing that, and wanted to go over to him, wrap my arms around him, and apologize for every single word I'd said. But I didn't. I turned my head away, too. What have I done? I thought to myself. I hope I don't lose him. I just wasn't ready. Not yet.

As I looked away from him, I spotted two rabbits, frozen with fear, just a few feet away. Not bothering to think, I bounded over to them and snatched them up, breaking their necks in the process. For those of you in the back row going "eeew!" let me tell you that you get used to rabbit _au jus_ real quick when you're on the run.

I showed my catch to Fang. He nodded, and then we were in the air again. I felt terrible. I hoped that I hadn't ruined our friendship permanently. Fang was distant, his eyes far away as he thought of something.

"Whatcha thinkin' of?" I asked casually.

He blinked and kind of looked at me, then turned away again. "Nothing much. Just what it will take to catch you one of these days." I felt my face turn red, and I sped up, feeling uncomfortable. That was when I spied the cave that we had left the flock in. It was empty.

"Uh, Fang?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's the flock?" And that's when panic hit home.


	3. Not an Update sorry!

Hey, everybody. Sorry, this isn't an update.

I know that it's been forever since I've updated. I don't even know if anybody's following this story anymore. Anyways, I was planning on just making this a two-shot and finishing it real quick; I'd even started writing it again (you wouldn't believe how crazy busy I've been), but I've run into a wall. I lost my thumbdrive that had everything I've ever written on it. So yeah. I can't really write without the stuff on there, so until I find it….

I'll keep looking, but until then, sorry! I will try to get it done.

Love you all!

~resident vampire


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